Turkey detains director of film on July 15 coup attempt

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's official news agency says a film director has been detained on suspicion of links to a U.S.-based cleric who Turkey blames for last summer's failed coup.

Anadolu news agency says Ali Avci was detained Thursday at his home. Avci was a producer for "The Chief," a biopic on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released in March, and is the director of "Awakening," an upcoming movie on the July 15 coup attempt.

The movie's trailer showed a scenario where the coup plotters had succeeded and killed Erdogan's family and colleagues. The trailer ends with a gun pointed at Erdogan's head.

Avci was detained with a fugitive suspected of using an encrypted messaging application allegedly used by cleric Fethullah Gulen's network.